MaGerks

MaGerks Maryland Crab CakeCrab Cake Review

You may already be familiar with MaGerks from their Federal Hill location. Back in 2000, a couple of brothers from Philadelphia decided to open their second location down in Baltimore to serve displaced Eagles fans, and quickly grew to encompass 3 bar areas and an outdoor patio. In addition, they brought you real Philly-style cheesesteaks, authentic down to the Amoroso roll. They did so well that they decided to open another location up in Bel Air. And while the Federal Hill location may have expanded their menu to include sushi, the Bel Air location's menu expanded to include crab cakes! So how did a couple of cheesesteakheads do with their version of the Maryland classic? Read on and see for yourself!

MaGerks' Maryland Crab Cake sandwich is a 6oz broiled crab cake served with chips and a pickle and your choice of bread (or on crackers if preferred). There is also a double entree served with a starch and chef's vegetable. All prices are market price.

The crab in the cake is in good sized lumps, although they are mostly broken up. While Maryland is in the name, this is a saucy cake, using a mayonnaise base to hold all of that delicous crab meat together, along with some bread and spices.

This crab cake was much better than we expected. The crab tastes more meaty than sweet, but the flavor is front and center. The binder offers a little more flavor, but mostly stays out of the way. If anything, the binder and spices nicely accentuate the crab. We felt that they could have used a little more crab spice in the mix, but that's really about it. If you're ever in town and can hold off on the Cheesesteak Egg Rolls, we recommend you give the crab cake a shot!

Have you tried MaGerks' Maryland Crab Cake? Let us know about it in the comments!

Review Legend

Restaurant Name

Name of the restaurant at the time of the review. Using proper, advertised name and not any nicknames. Stadium names will be used, as the stands there are permanent (at least for the current season). Festival/Event stands will use the business name.

Address

Physical address of the restaurant. In the case of a chain, the establishment visited will be used.

Neighborhood

Name of the neighborhood/area that the restaurant is located in. More useful for big cities like Baltimore. Smaller locations will have just the town/city name used.

Restaurant Type

Local = Single establishment/locationLocal Chain = Multiple establishments in the same townRegional Chain = Multiple establishments in the same geographical areaNational Chain = Multiple establishments across the countryStand/Kiosk = Stadium, festival or event that does not have a physical address/permanent location. Stadium names will be used, as the stand will be assumed to be permanent, at least for the current season. Stands at festivals/events will use the business name.

Review Date

Date and time the review took place. Time often refers to when I sat down at a table, not specifically when I took my first bite of crab cake.

Atmosphere

Approximation of how busy the restaurant was at the time of the review. May have an effect on the quality that goes into the crab cake and overall experience. If food is made to order but the kitchen is slammed, then food may be rushed out the door. Conversely, if going to a stand on a slow day, food may be pre-cooked and then warmed up upon ordering.

Item(s) Ordered

Menu name of the item ordered. There may be multiple versions on the same menu, or the same item may be named differently if the menu changes on a regular basis.

Cooking Style

How the crab cake was cooked. Not always obvious, at which case a best approximation is made. Typically either fried or broiled are the most popular cooking styles, others may be available and will be indicated as such.

Other Styles Available

Indicates multiple versions of crab cakes are offered on the menu. Does not list which other styles are available, as that list can get to be a bit unmanageable. Fret not, my loyal readers! The CCR will make an effort at some point in the future to return and review it. For science!

Price

The price paid at the time of review. May not reflect the price if you visit the same establishment, especially if the crab cakes are "market price" or on a daily special. Every effort will be made to indicate the regular price in the body of the main review.

Order Type

Single Platter = single crab cake + at least one sideDouble Platter = two crab cakes + at least one sideCombo Platter = two crab cakes of differing styles + at least one sideSandwich = single crab cake on a bunAppetizer = ordered off of the appetizer menuSingle = single crab cake and nothing elseStore Bought = bought at a store, but may also refer to carryout from a restaurant that also does mail orderOther = anything else that does not fit the above, expanded upon in the body of the main review

Crab Content

Description of crab contained within the crab cake. This definition is a bit subjective both to what the reviewer considers the crab content to be, and what the restaurant does. Even if jumbo lump is being used, for example, it is possible for those jumbo lumps to be broken up into smaller lumps and/or shreds. Origin vs end product can be different, but in the end its all crab. However, if a jumbo lump crab cake comes out with nothing but shreds, then the CCR does not view this as a jumbo lump crab cake.

Therefore, the CCR will use the following definitions in its reviews to assess the end product, despite the restaurants claims (which will be noted in the main body of the review):

Jumbo Lump = large lumps of crab meat present, often the size of a sugar cubeLump = large lumps of crab meat that often have a finger-like shape to themMix = mixture of lump and shredded meatShredded = no lumps of crab meat, all shredded meat

Filler

Assessment of the amount of filler used, not the actual ingredients used. Minimal shows signs of bread crumbs and the like being used, whereas Too Much indicates that the cake has hardly any crab at all.

Spice

Assessment of the amount of spices used, not the actual ingredients used. Minimal indicates the slight presence of spices (such as Old Bay) or flavors other than the crab meat (may come from the mustard and/or mayo being used), whereas Too Much indicates that the flavor of the crab is undetectable.

Overall Impression

A personal assessment of the crab cake after some thought and reflection. The CCR tries to be fair and objective in all of its reviews, but that does not mean that the reviewer won't have some sort of opinion as to how good the crab cake is compared to all of the others out there. Please note that this is subjective, and use the pictures, main review and user comments to determine if the crab cake in question is worth trying for yourself or not. (And post your experience in the comment section as well!)